INFO: Bill Brown delights us with a personal appearance, in from North Carolina with a charming “how-to” volume, “Action!” The artist-author reads from this self-illustrated guide to film- and video-making and also from the latest issue of his beloved travel ‘zine, DREAM WHIP. Bill then introduces an inspiring mid-career overview of his personal documentaries, headlined by the West Coast premiere of Memorial Land, a careful consideration of architectural sites honoring the 9/11 dead. ALSO: Chicago Corner, Confederation Park, Mountain State, and his recent Document, a laser-printer-to-16mm rendering of a redacted CIA text. Q&A, and books available! $6
Bill Brown’s Dreamwhip zine is a raw little chunk of America full of darkened crop-fields and desert moonlight and sad, empty diners. Now in its 14th issue, Dreamwhip is a zine with some history behind it. “I was skateboarding one night, back in early ’90s,” Bill explains over email. “It was late, and it was cold. I hit a rock and, suddenly, I was lying on my back and the sky was full of shooting stars. I was dizzy for a year. I started doing a zine to take my mind off my broken head. I finally got better, more or less, but the zine kept going.” The long-running Dreamwhip is an informed, articulate, patient piece of existential storytelling. In a tone that’s half Ira Glass, half Cometbus, Bill’s 344-page pocket-size 14th issue gives us stories of biblical theme parks and border-crossers, of Dutch punks and haunted houses. His is a wide-spanning, optimistic, Technicolored America, more Woody Allen than Kerouac, but always on the road. As says Bill, “Dreamwhip is a bad country song full of open roads and achy hearts and ratty motel rooms where I take stock of how many miles I’ve gone and how many I’ve still got to go.”
The First 10 Years of Needles & Pens
Edited by Andrew Martin Scott $8.00
The First 10 Years of Needles & Pens documents the over 85 art exhibitions and events hosted by the unique San Francisco arts space. For the last 10 years N&P has specialized in zines, handmade goods and visual artwork in a gallery setting. This book celebrates and reflects on the last decade of the space’s history through photos and words by the people that have been involved. People like: David Benzler, Patricia Colli, Chris Duncan, Kyle Field, Maria Forde, Glen Helfand, Jay Howell, Rich Jacobs, Chris Johanson, Tim Kerr, Darin Klein, Faythe Levine, Nick Mann, Austin McManus, Griffin McPartland, Serena Mitnik-Miller, Sam McPheeters, Matt OBrien, Nigel Peake, Ray Potes, Larry Rinder, Chris Reardon, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, Nathaniel Russel, Andrew Schoultz, Orion Shepherd, Paul Schiek, Jovi Schnell, Andrew Martin Scott, Louis Schmidt, Kevin Earl Taylor, John Trippe, and Paul Wackers.
• 100 Pages
• Perfect Bound
• 8.5″ x 5.5″
• Offset printed in Oakland, California
• 2-Color Red/Blue Cover
• Blue ink on white paper inside
• First Edition of 500 copies
Thank you for coming out to Needles & Pens 10 Year Anniversary show! It was an amazing night. There is so much good work on the walls – over 100 pieces by 66 different artists. Do yourself a favor and make it a point to get down to The Luggage Store Gallery this month to see it in person. The N&P Anniversary show is on display through June 8 and Luggage Store Gallery hours are Wed-Sat 12-5 pm (and by appointment). But right now, for your internet veiwing pleasure check out these shots from the show on JUXTAPOZ -
Needles & Pens 10 Year Anniversary Show
Featuring works by:
Amy Browne, Andrew McKinley, Andrew Schoultz, Austin McManus, Bill Daniel, Brigid Dawson, Chris Duncan, Chris Johanson, Chrissy Piper, Daniel Higgs/Kyle Ranson, David Benzler, Deuce 7, Edie Fake, Griffin McPartland, Hamburger Eyes, Hilary Pecis, Jason Jägel, Jay Howell, Jay Nelson, Jeff Canham, Jeremy Fish, Joey Alone, John Dwyer, Jovi Schnell, Julianna Bright, Kevin Earl Taylor, Know Hope, Kyle Field, Kyle Ranson, Lena Wolff, Maria Forde, Mary Joy Scott, Mat Obrien, Matt Furie, Maya Hayuk, Mike Brodie, Miriam Stahl, Monica Canilao, Nathaniel Russell, Nick Mann, Nigel Peake, Nikki McClure, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, Orfn, Orion Shepherd, Other, Pacolli, Paul Schiek, Paul Urich, Paul Wackers, Pez, Ray Potes, Richard Coleman, Rich Jacobs, Russ Pope, Sam McPheeters, Serena Mitnik Miller, Stefan Simikich, Tauba Auerbach, Ted Pushinski, Thomas Campbell, Tim Kerr, Xara Thustra
And Music by:
Tara Jane Oneil, Strawberry Smog, and WR/DS
Opens May 10, 2013 – 6:00-9:30 p.m.
@ The Luggage Store Gallery
1007 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Working Title: Fabricating a Future with Atelier Dion
with Andrew from Needles & Pens and Kelly Lynn Jones from Little Paper Planes
Oakland-based Atelier Dion has been in operation for less than 2 years, but has already built up an impressive list of clients and is on its way to becoming a successful ceramics production house. Owners Jay and Rie Dion are a husband and wife duo who met in 2008 while attending graduate school at California College of the Arts. After graduation, the couple realized they could use their skills as ceramic artists to create a business focused on custom fabrication. We visited the Dions in their West Oakland studio where we discussed the ins and outs of starting a business and the sacrifices and compromises they have made to get their vision off the ground.
This is the second episode of Working Title, a collaboration between KQED and Little Paper Planes, hosted by Kelly Lynn Jones of LPP and Andrew Martin Scott, co-owner of Needles and Pens. Through this program, which will include videos, interviews, articles, and essays, we will explore how local artist-entrepreneurs are re-inventing the American Dream, creating alternative economies and redefining success in the Bay Area.
About the Book: Peter Jordan’s “In The City of Bikes” describes how, since the dawn of cycling in the 1890s, the people of Amsterdam have embraced the bike not only as their preferred mode of transport, but as a part of their humanity that they defend by instinct and with undying vigor.
Jordan combines ten years of meticulous historical research with his own memoirs to illustrate why in Amsterdam, the streets are not merely bike-friendly or bike safe. Rather, the bike is King of the Road in no uncertain terms, making the capital of Holland unique among the world’s cities. This is the first book in any language to examine these key aspects of urban transport and Dutch culture.
The cycling adventures of Amsterdammers have played a critical role in the life and the history of the city. Huge throngs pedal out to the country for the annual tulip festival, with every bike & body covered with that flower. During the 5-year Nazi occupation babies were born under pedal-powered generator lights and citizens resisted German attempts to control and confiscate their bikes. The Dutch Resistance relied on disguised women to move messages and downed allied pilots around the city. The bike served as a means of endurance, being essential to a Dutch person’s soul.
Pete Jordan is also the author of “Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States.” Pete’s work has been featured on NPR’s This American Life and the New York Times.
Needles & Pens 10 Year Anniversary Show
Featuring works by:
Amy Browne, Andrew McKinley, Andrew Schoultz, Austin McManus, Bill Daniel, Brigid Dawson, Chris Duncan, Chris Johanson, Chrissy Piper, Daniel Higgs/Kyle Ranson, David Benzler, Deuce 7, Edie Fake, Griffin McPartland, Hamburger Eyes, Hilary Pecis, Jason Jägel, Jay Howell, Jay Nelson, Jeff Canham, Jeremy Fish, Joey Alone, John Dwyer, Jovi Schnell, Julianna Bright, Kevin Earl Taylor, Know Hope, Kyle Field, Kyle Ranson, Lena Wolff, Maria Forde, Mary Joy Scott, Mat Obrien, Matt Furie, Maya Hayuk, Mike Brodie, Miriam Stahl, Monica Canilao, Nathaniel Russell, Nick Mann, Nigel Peake, Nikki McClure, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, Orfn, Orion Shepherd, Other, Pacolli, Paul Schiek, Paul Urich, Paul Wackers, Pez, Ray Potes, Richard Coleman, Rich Jacobs, Russ Pope, Sam McPheeters, Serena Mitnik Miller, Stefan Simikich, Tauba Auerbach, Ted Pushinski, Thomas Campbell, Tim Kerr, Xara Thustra
And Music by:
Tara Jane Oneil, Strawberry Smog, and WR/DS
Opens May 10, 2013 – 6:00-9:30 p.m.
@ The Luggage Store Gallery
1007 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Book Launch & Signing at Needles & Pens Friday, April 19, 2013 from 6-8 p.m.
Needles & Pens,
3253 16th Street,
San Francisco CA.,94103
But I needed to find out for myself. Two weeks later I was gone, witnessing my new world wizz by, especially at dusk, then darkness as I watched the sum of all the city lights cast my silhouette across the pine trees of the Florida panhandle. This was it, I was riding my very first freight train. And soon, what would begin as mere natural curiosity and self-discovery would evolve into a casting call of sorts, taking photographs of my newfound friends. — Mike Brodie
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 13, 2013 -7:00 – 9:30 p.m.
Tahiti Pehrson creates large-scale, meticulously hand cut, three-dimensional paper sculptures. His intricate x-acto knife carvings explore the fragility and connectedness of the world. The detailed installations offer viewers a glimpse at how microscopic life might appear on a giant scale. Much like a magnified snowflake, Pehrson’s works reveal the magnificently beautiful patterns not always obvious to the naked eye, but quite inherent within nature.
Needles & Pens presents, ASK THE DUST
A two person exhibition of ink drawings
by Joey Alone and Deuce 7
Escaping the monotony, greed and meaningless vanity of city life for something which is tangible and raw and fills the void, Joey Alone and Deuce 7 have put ink to paper and attempted to share with the world what they both have actively chosen to seek out over the past two years – abandoned railroad infratsructure, beaten wood shacks, chaparral cliffs and the emptiness and desolation of the California Deserts. With a focus both on the non-human Natural World, as well the abandoned and forgotten aspects of the Human World, their work is born out of a world focused on both the granite rock and rusted iron of the American West. Joey Alone is a brakeman with the Railroad, Deuce 7 is a railroad enthusiast and vagabond.
Thanks for coming out to The Golden Source Power Three, collaborative Works by Jesse Balmer, Niv Bavarsky,& Michael Olivo.
Golden Source Power Three
Collaborative Works by
Jesse Balmer, Niv Bavarsky,
& Michael Olivo
Jesse Balmer, Niv Bavarsky and Michael Olivo started drawing together early in 2012. The drawing sessions, which were initially for amusement, became herapeutic and mind expanding for all three artists. Each learning their distinct roles in two or three way collaborations helped solidify each artist’s personal voice in a way unique to the collaborative process. Many drawings were completed, and surprisingly, few ended as failures. This show is an opportunity to see very nearly all the drawings, in a variety of mediums, that the three completed together after a year of collaboration.
Golden Source Power Three will be on display February 8 through March 3, 2013
The Zone System by Bill Daniel is the skate photographer’s bible, a take–anywhere manual that clarifies the technical and aesthetic challenges facing beginners and experts – an indispensable tool for understanding early 1980s skateboarding in central texas, its lasting impact on contemporary culture and is a must – have for anyone concerned with the content/form relationship; complete with photos of Tex Gibson, Steve Harris, Craig Johnson, Tim Kerr, Michael Laird, John Nau, Kenny Peyton, Jeff Phillips, Dan Wilkes, the Big Boys and more! $12 each
• Published by Needles & Pens • 5.75″ x 8.50″ • 44 Glossy b/w pages • Perfect bound • Edition of 500 copies
JOIN N&P at the LA ART BOOK FAIR where we will be tabling a colossal assortment of zines, art books, and various printed matter from the San Francisco Bay Area as well as from international writers and artists.
In addition, N&P will be debuting the brand new N&P published book by artist BILL DANIEL entitled “THE ZONE SYSTEM – The Skate Photographer’s Bible”
–> The Zone System is a take–anywhere manual that clarifies the technical and aesthetic challenges facing beginners and experts – an indispensable tool for understanding early 1980s skateboarding in central texas, its lasting impact on contemporary culture and is a must – have for anyone concerned with the content/form relationship.”
We will also have the new book by long-time N&P artist XARA THUSTRA! Book fair customers will be able to purchase signed copies at our table.
http://laartbookfair.net/
Printed Matter’s LA ART BOOK FAIR
February 1-3, 2013
Opening: Thursday, January 31, 2013, 6–9 pm
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
152 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 626-6222
moca.org
We’ve been working on this for six months and it’s finally ready to launch! wooo! Go over to KQED, check it out and let us know what you think.
click to view video at KQED
This is the pilot episode of Working Title, a collaboration between KQED and Little Paper Planes, hosted by Kelly Lynn Jones of LPP and Andrew Martin Scott, co-owner of Needles and Pens. Through this program, which will include videos, interviews, articles and essays, we will explore how local artist entrepreneurs are re-inventing the American Dream, creating alternative economies and redefining success in the Bay Area. Stay tuned.
Bay Area artist Jay Nelson has always been into building tree houses, and now he does it for a living. Starting a few years back with a couple of installations in local art galleries, Jay, who has no formal carpentry training, taught himself how to build the imaginary structures that were floating around in his head. We talked to Jay about how he has been able to turn his passion into a business, learning more about his philosophy of life and his definition of success.
Going through some old stuff and found this note (2006) from Aaron Cometbus congratulating us on our new space on 16th Street. Also how there used to be a punk rock mini mall where the kilowatt is now that housed a zine shop called Burning Media.
Join us for the release of the FREE LOVEWARZ 2013 LUNAR CALENDAR by XARA THUSTRA With Free Dinner & Hangout Wednesday, January 16, 2013 7-9pm @ NEEDLES & PENS
Image: Kevin Killian. Tagged: Arnold, 2012. Color photograph.
Gravity and Trajectory (GR//TR) is pleased to announce a Book Release Party for
Tagged: Variations on a Theme by Kevin Killian
GR//TR, Volume 4
Saturday, January 12, 2013
6-9pm
Needles and Pens
3253 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 255-1534
www.needlesandpens.com
Free admission
In person: Kevin Killian, Darin Klein and GR//TR (Christopher Kardambikis and Louis M. Schmidt).
Plus short readings by Tagged subjects Tom Comitta, Andrew Kenower, M. Kitchell, and Ronald Palmer.
Don’t miss the unveiling of renowned Bay Area author and playwright Kevin Killian’s very first publication of photographic works. Twenty-four full-color pages highlight Killian’s ongoing photo project focusing on his artist and writer peers—each posing with a drawing of male genitalia by artist Raymond Pettibon—and are introduced by an enlightening essay from Rob Halpern.
First Edition, January 2013. One-Hundred and Fifty copies. Twenty-Six copies have been lettered A – Z and signed by Kevin Killian, and are accompanied by a fold-out poster/dust jacket, and a mini fold-out booklet featuring a poem by Kevin Killian and artwork by Tagged subject Elijah Burgher. Handmade and independently produced by GR//TR in Los Angeles, California. Guest curated by Darin Klein.
Gravity and Trajectory is an opportunity for artists and curators to explore the specifics of exhibiting artwork within the book format, the page that is the gallery wall.
$20.00 – Tagged: Variations on a Theme by Kevin Killian
$40.00 – Tagged: Variations on a Theme by Kevin Killian (Deluxe Edition)
Hey folks, N&P is here by enacting extended holiday hours now and everyday until Christmas Day!Oooh yeah, check it out -
Monday Dec. 17 through Friday Dec. 21 – we’ll be open 12pm to 8pm. Saturday Dec. 22 and Sunday Dec. 23 – 11am to 9pm Monday Dec. 24 – 12pm to 7pm * TUESDAY DEC. 25 * CLOSED * Wednesday Dec. 26 – 12 to 7pm (back to normal hours)
Just in – Sign Painters by Faythe Levine & Sam Macon
“There was a time, as recently as the 1980s, when storefronts, murals, banners, barn signs, billboards, and even street signs were all hand-lettered with brush and paint. But, like many skilled trades, the sign industry has been overrun by the techno-fueled promise of quicker and cheaper. The resulting proliferation of computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and inkjet printers has ushered a creeping sameness into our visual landscape. Fortunately, there is a growing trend to seek out traditional sign painters and a renaissance in the trade. In 2010 filmmakers Faythe Levine, coauthor of Handmade Nation, and Sam Macon began documenting these dedicated practitioners, their time-honored methods, and their appreciation for quality and craftsmanship. Sign Painters, the first anecdotal history of the craft, features stories and photographs of more than two dozen sign painters working in cities throughout the United States. With a foreword by legendary artist (and former sign painter) Ed Ruscha, this vibrant book profiles sign painters young and old, from the new vanguard working solo to collaborative shops such as San Francisco’s New Bohemia Signs and New York’s Colossal Media’s Sky High Murals.”
• 7.5 x 9.5 inches • Paperback • 176 pages • 200 color illustrations. BUY IT ONLINE
Needles & Pens is an emporium of zines, books, handmade goods, and an art gallery. Located in San Francisco's Mission District since 2003, the space aims to provide an affordable place where like minded people from the community can display and sell their own home-made goods, home-published zines, and art work.
